Saving Ground
by Saint Lonely
Summary: Magneto steals away with Rogue, while Mystique stays in her place to destroy her relationship with Bobby. When Rogue returns, can she save her ground? Please r/r! My first X-Men fic! ::Chapter 2 up::
1. Chapter One

Disclaimer: As always, you know the drill. It isn't mine, it never has been, and never will be any time in the near future. (But a girl can dream! ^^)  
  
Author's Note: Set a couple months before X2. Logan's gone. And yes, I've seen the second movie, and I know what happens. But, for a little while, lets just pretend that never happened. I started this in a spurt of boredom, and now I'm kinda glad I did. I like writing X-Men. It's my first, so please review!  
  
Rogue lay on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. Fake plastic stars once hung there, glowing at night the Little Dipper and Orion's belt, each star placed with care and purpose, but they'd been torn away when Logan left. Two years had passed, with only a few weekend visits. Jean was having dreams, horrible nightmares, and they needed him, but Rogue had learned Logan only returned on his own time.  
  
Rogue sighed and rolled over onto her side. A picture of her and Logan sat framed on her beside stand, and another of her and Bobby. Snapshots of her friends lay in a stack next to them, with worn, dog-eared corners. Bobby's jacket hung over the sides of her chair and Logan's dog tags around her neck. Fragments of the memories in her head were scattered around her room. Sometime after Logan had left, she'd somehow acquired her own room. She was still seventeen and by law a minor.  
  
Everything in her life was so right, but at the same time so wrong. She was a mutant. She'd run away from home when she'd discovered her power and ended up at Xavier's school for the gifted. She hadn't heard from her family since and she didn't look for it to happen either. She was the only mutant in the family, that she knew of anyway, and they probably hoped it would stay that way.  
  
Rogue had Logan to count on, even though he was usually away. He'd helped her through her toughest time. At first, she'd found his unruly hair and wolfish instincts wild and crazy and dangerously sensual. But human contact of any sort banished the short lived desires. Logan was just another person in her life that meant so much to her, but she'd never be able to touch him. She wore layers of clothes in the hottest of days, just to protect the rest of the world from her. At times, she longed to be normal, but it seemed she'd long since forgotten what the word meant. When she looked around, she saw nothing of what the world deemed normal.   
  
Bobby was in her life too. He wanted to get close to her, to touch her skin, and at times she believed he also wanted a kiss or two. But even his frosty might couldn't save him from Rogue's skin, although sometimes he acted as if is could. Rogue knew they seemed like an item to the rest of the school, but only to those who didn't know them well. She didn't know if they were herself. It was hard to be with someone and not touch them.   
  
Jean, Scott, and Ororo were there too, but they were teachers, and in turn, parental figures. Rogue had long since let go of anything resembling a mother or a father. They weren't her friends, in a sense, not until she was allowed to be counted in a league high enough to be an X-Men.  
  
Professor Xavier wanted to help her. She knew her past already, but she told little of it. She'd left Marie behind when she ran away. She was Rogue now and she'd never go back. No, he wanted to make her better. She suddenly lost the feel of a human skin other than her own. And when she happened to touch someone, it hurt. It hurt everyone else too, she knew, so rarely did the gloves around her fingers come off.  
  
Suddenly, Jean was standing in her doorway, a classic smile beaming off her face. The smile surprised Rogue. Jean hadn't been completely happy in awhile. She was having what she thought were prophetical dreams. Magneto would be free and try to kill the human population again. Professor Xavier taken, the children hunted and killed.  
  
"Hey, kid," said Jean quietly. Rogue opened her eyes and waved a gloved hand. "Guess what? I think I've found it."  
  
"Found what?"  
  
"When Logan first brought you here, I took some of your blood and DNA samples. Professor Xavier wanted me to use them to try and cure you, if only for a little bit. In other words, you'll be able to touch people and interact normally."  
  
"How does it work?" Rogue sat up. She was interested now. Think of everything she could do, and further more, who she could do it with.   
  
"Well, the molecules in your body react with -"  
  
"Never mind," interrupted Rogue. "I knew that was coming."  
  
"Sorry," said Jean, her cheeks slightly flushing, but there had been little need for an apology. Rogue waved it off.   
  
"Can we… test it?"  
  
"Yes. We'll need to do it a couple of times in the lab to see if it will work, if there are any areas you can't touch, how long a dose lasts. But I don't recommend using it constantly. Only for special occasions. You never know if your powers might be needed, and it wouldn't help to have them shut down."  
  
"When? When can I try it?"  
  
"Now if you'd like," drawled Jean slowly. The formula hadn't been tested yet on a human and she was a little skittish about the possible side effects.  
  
Rogue threw the blankets she'd been wrapped up in over her back and stood up. When she'd come the rest, she hadn't bothered to strip of a single layer of clothing. Her boots were still tied to her feet, her sweater still zipped up to her throat. Her hair was still in good condition - she couldn't have slept even if she wanted. Lately sleep had been coming late in the night, at a time when there were only a few mere hours left till dawn. She couldn't remember her last full night of sleep, much less a sleep not haunted by a fit of dreams. She suspected they were somewhat like Jean's although hers were from experience. Ever since she'd learned of Magneto, everything had changed.  
  
She could still see Logan suspended in the air, his claws stretching his skin, watching helplessly as he flew back into the next car. She remembered quite clearly what it felt like to be in Magneto's grips, helpless again when he tried to use her to destroy the world. But that was over, in the past. And still, try as she might, Rogue just couldn't forget, or forgive.   
  
Rogue straightened a few wrinkles out of clothes, not that it mattered, and followed Jean down the corridor. She'd never actually found her own way to the doctor's lab; she'd always had to stop for directions. She took mental notes as she walked, storing them away somewhere with the rest of her memories. She past the classrooms, the Library, Logan's room. Rogue peeked in through the open door, finding the insides barren. A few items of clothing lay around, probably from the last time he'd returned. Even though it had been several months, his scent still lingered.  
  
Suddenly, Rogue found herself and Jean standing at a silver wall. Jean closed her eyes and then the door opened. Behind it lay a starch white laboratory and Professor Xavier in his wheelchair, his back facing the doorway.  
  
"Hello, Rogue," said the Professor. Rogue? Since when had he called her Rogue? And his voice seemed different and his back wasn't the same either.   
  
"Professor," said Rogue, tipping her head in respect, just like she always did.  
  
Beside her, Jean smiled lovingly at the Professor. Rogue watched, out of her of peripheral vision, as Jean's eyes flickered yellow for an instant and the doors behind her slid shut.   
  
Author's Note: Didja like it?? I promise I'll continue soon. Please review!! I'll pass out candy!! ^^ 


	2. Chapter Two

Author's Note: Not much to say. Continuation of the last chapter. I was astounded by the reviews! Thank you all so MUCH! (And feel free to do it again any time!)  
Rogue opened her eyes, peeking through tight slits. Bright sunlight filtered into the window, baking her usually cool skin. The sun was high in the sky, she somehow knew, and she wondered momentarily why she was still sleeping. The room she lay in looked much like hers at Xavier's school, excluding her possessions. Rogue rolled onto her back and groaned; pain shot from her toes through her spine, and finally subsiding at the base of her neck. She closed her eyes and tried to remember.  
  
The last thing she could recall was Magneto's smiling face. It wasn't like Professor Xavier's, who's was warm and kind, like a grandfather's; it was malicious and evil, taunting and teasing. She remembered it clearly from the last time, and now it was back. She'd remember it for years now, haunting her dreams.   
  
Jean - no, Mystique - had lured her away, then knocked her out cold. The side of her head throbbed and her muffled hearing told her it had swollen as well. But after that, she didn't remember. She supposed they'd driven here, wherever here was, or possibly flown. She'd been woken up when they'd arrived, in a laboratory similar to the real Jean's; starch white and neatly in order. Magneto had lost the wheelchair and had changed into more comfortable clothes.   
  
"Welcome home, Rogue."  
  
She shivered at the remembrance of his words. Home being with Magneto seemed utterly creepy to her, so she pulled the covers close to her chin. Home. What did Magneto want from her now?  
  
The doors to Rogue's suite opened and in walked Mystique. She was in her natural form. Turquoise blue and scaly, brilliant, slicked back red hair. She treaded lightly on the soft carpet, stopping at Rogue's bedside.  
  
"Get up," she said hastily. Rogue lifted her back, but the inflictions sent her back down. Mystique growled, then changed into Logan's form. He had strength she could use. She lifted Rogue's small frame, making sure she wasn't touching any of the fatal skin, and tossed her over her shoulder. She couldn't manage a struggle, so instead she complied and fell limp of Mystique's shoulder.   
  
Rogue watched the carpet. It was silver, shiny, like a metal, and for a second she wondered if it was, but Mystique's feet paced on quietly. She took turns sharply, sending Rogue sliding down, but she hoisted her luggage back up. Rogue was lost already and plus, she didn't know where she was going.   
  
Suddenly, Mystique slammed her down into a hard metal chair. It was iron, she assumed, so Magneto could control who ever held it's presence. A flash of blue walked out the huge circular door just as it shut. Rogue looked around. The room was empty, just a chair and a matching table.   
  
Rogue titled her head back as far as it would go without it hurting. Pain coursed again through her body, and try as she might, her muscles just wouldn't relax. Her arms throbbed, her head pulsed, and her heart pumped faster and faster. She was afraid. Very afraid.  
  
Rogue's mind went out to the school, to her friends. Bobby sat along, John just a few seats away. Kitty and Jubilee were giggling over lunch. Storm and Jean, the real Jean, were teaching, Scott was in the garage under the hood of one of his prized cars. Professor Xavier was in Cerebro, concentrating. Was he looking for her?  
  
But then her mind veered off, running through tall grasses that parted as she passed. She wove through trees, leaped over bubbling creeks and cut shortcuts through the miles. And then suddenly, she stopped. Rogue found herself in the middle of a grungy bar, a fighting cage rattling behind her. She could walked through the crowd and not touch a single person and soon, she was sitting at the bar.   
  
Next to her on a swiveling stool was a figure that seemed all too familiar to her. The leather jacket was worn and tattered, and had lost its shine long ago. He smelled of the forest, a piney scent of the needles. The dark hair was messy, but the unruly mess accented his ruggedly featured face. There was only one person it could be.   
  
Logan.  
  
Rogue lifted herself up into the stool and placed a hand on Logan's shoulder. He jumped, which was quite unlike him, and turned. Sitting next to him was a shimmery image of a woman.   
  
"Rogue?" She nodded, smiling. Everything seemed so real. Maybe she'd gotten out… Maybe she'd escaped. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Magneto. He and Mystique tricked me, then took me captive. I don't know what he wants, or why he wants me. I'm scared Logan, so scared." A solitary tear trickled down the side of her face. It was unnaturally cold, leaving a trail of frost down her cheek, then finally froze and broke away at her chin. It dropped, hitting the floor with a thud too quiet to be heard, but she did.  
  
"Are you okay? Have they hurt you, kid?"   
  
"Not while I was awake. I'm in a room. I think I'm somewhere in Magneto's mansion. It's white, and the only thing in here is table and chair, both made of metal, iron, I think. I don't know what they're going to do, Logan. I don't know."  
  
"Rogue, just stay calm, I'm coming as soon as I can, okay?" Logan took a swig from his bottle, the last sip of his beer. He didn't stagger as he stood. He hadn't drank enough to be influenced.   
  
Rogue slid off the seat and suddenly vanished. She could feel herself going backwards the way she'd come and she watched the bar slip out of her sight. Her eyes snapped open, and only a few inches away was Magneto's face.  
  
"Dreaming, Rogue?" asked the old man. He brushed a gloved finger down her cheek, stopping where the tear in her dream had frozen and fallen off. The trail was still cold, she could feel numb line frosted on her face.   
  
She turned away and closed her eyes. She didn't want to see Magneto's face. He grabbed onto her chin and forced her head to face his. Her eyes opened, looking into his, and her body began to tremble. Magneto stood up, admiring the effects he had on the girl.  
  
"What do you want?" asked Rogue, spitting it in his face.  
  
"You, my dear. You're going to help me, whether you like it or not."   
  
"You can't make me. They'll come find me. You know they will."  
  
"I'm afraid you're wrong." Magneto raised Rogue's chair and she gripped the rests. Something pressed against her chest, trying to break it's way into her heart. She looked down, but realized immediately what they were. Logan's dog tags. And then she remembered her dream. It wasn't real. Logan couldn't and wouldn't save her; he didn't know she was in trouble.   
  
And she would surely die.  
  
"You see, while you're here with me, the lovely Mystique will take your place, and in turn, learn all the secrets I need to know. And don't worry, she'll destroy your reputation at the school as well. Everything is going as planned, Marie. Everything."  
  
The tags pressed harder against her chest. She saw it in her head before she felt it - blood trickling down past her breasts, onto her stomach, pooling in her bellybutton. Looking down, Rogue could see it soaking through her shirt and for the first time, she realized she'd been stripped down to the last layer of her clothes. A black bloodstained tank top clung to stomach, and a little trail of crimson had flown over the hem of her blue jeans. The tags dug deeper, sending out the next waterfall of flowing blood.   
  
"What do you want, Magneto?" Rogue spat the words, tossing them away as if they were poison. She hated being in his presence and hated being at his mercy even more.  
  
"You will help me, and in time, you'll see," began Magneto as he started to pace. Back and forth, back and forth. Rogue tried to look away, but found herself unable to look away. The tension eased on the dog tags. She reached up to touch it, gingerly, and her fingers came away soaked in her crimson blood.  
  
"Mystique, come here," called Magneto. The scaled woman walked in through the metal doors, swinging her naked blue hips suggestively. At whom, Rogue did not know, but still the female swung on.  
  
"Yes?" drawled Mystique slowly, sweetly, another one of her enticing gestures.   
  
"Go now. You are needed as Rogue at Xavier's institute. Don't draw too much suspicion, but learn enough for me." Mystique nodded, then her yellow eyes flashed, and she became Rogue. She stood in the real Rogue's undergarments, bare and pale skinned. Three scars shown on her stomach, each an equal distance apart, and Rogue knew they were not her own wounds, but the damage Logan had inflicted in her last encounter.  
  
Mystique turned with a smile, trotting off down the hall towards Rogue's room. Rogue suspected she would steal her clothes, and then take off. She hoped vainly that the shape shifter wouldn't tear the school apart as she tore away her reputation.  
  
"Alone at last, Marie."  
Author's Note: Finished!! Well, not with the story. There's definitely more to come. And thank you all again sooooo much for reviewing!! I just started out not to long ago and to get that many reviews on a single chapter was AMAZING! I love you!! But, please review again!  
  
I'm going to be free pretty much this entire weekend, so expect another chapter probably by Monday or Tuesday.   
  
Please review! I'll give… chocolate candy bars this time!! And in true Willy-Wonka style, if you get a golden wrapper, it means I love you! 


	3. Chapter Three

Author's Note: Hi again. It's me. And that's about all there is to say right now.  
  
With the swing of her hips, Rogue walked in through the double doors of Professor Charles Xavier's school for the gifted. It felt good to be home again, she thought for a moment, then shook her head. She didn't have a home, she remembered. She had no past, as far as she was concerned.  
  
She instinctively knew her way around, and she made her way to her first class. She was late, but she didn't mind. Rogue peeked through the crack between door and wall carefully, as so not to be seen. Professor Xavier was giving some sort a lecture; a boring one for sure. She couldn't be seen by him anyway, so she turned quietly and walked towards the kitchen. She grabbed a small bag of potato chips, then sprinted down to her room. Clipped footsteps were coming down the hall, several pairs of boots walking quickly. Rogue slid into her doorway just as three figures turned the corner. She tossed the bag aside and listened.  
  
"No one's seen her? You're sure?" said a voice, a female's.  
  
"Positive. She hasn't been seen since classes ended yesterday."  
  
"Not even Bobby's seen her? Kitty or Jubilee?"  
  
"No."  
  
"It's not like her to just run off like that. That's Logan's job," a male's voice said with poorly concealed contempt.   
  
The voices registered in her head. The first was Ororo Munroe, the second that of Jean Gray, and last was none other than Scott Summers. Rogue smiled. Scott hated Logan, and had since he'd first come here.  
  
"Professor Xavier wants us to look into it as a kidnapping of some sort. There's no leads; she's just gone. But whatever it is, we have to be careful. If she's in the wrong hands, she could be used to wipe away the entire population again," said Jean Gray with a scolding tone. But then, her features would immediately relax back to their kind, sweet stance.  
  
"A kidnapping? Shouldn't we wait another day for Rogue's return, just in case she did just… leave?" Ororo didn't want to think that Rogue had been taken again. She'd already been through so much, she thought, and she was so young.  
  
"He doesn't want to take the chance that she could be in danger," said Scott, somewhat matter-of-factly.   
  
Rogue smiled. They were worrying over her, and yet there was no need to. She stepped out of her door at just the right time. She walked into their paths and stumbled back onto the ground. Scott grabbed for her, but it was too late. Ororo and Jean reached out their hands to her and helped her stand up.  
  
"Where have you been?" asked Scott as soon as she was back on her feet.  
  
"I just had to… get away," Rogue lied easily.  
  
"It's not like you Rogue. Is something wrong?" asked Jean, sounding much like her mother.  
  
"I'm fine. I just needed a vacation."  
  
Ororo raised an eyebrow at her. "From what?"  
  
"Just… everything. School, my friends, this place. Plus, you know, see the world from Logan's eyes." God, she wanted Logan right now, but she'd have to settle for the ever chilling Bobby Drake.  
  
"You didn't see him, did you?" The scorn was back in Scott's tone.  
  
"No, I don't even know where he is," she lied again. Magneto had him pinpointed in case he ever needed him. She could get to him in an instant if she wanted, but she had a cover to hold up.  
  
Scott grunted and Ororo sighed. Scott was probably thanking God for that, but Ororo missed his presence. She'd seen the weather goddess eye him. She wouldn't stand for it though. Logan would be hers, somehow, someway.  
  
Someday.  
  
"Well, we best get to the Professor and tell him you're back," said Jean. Rogue wondered for an instant if the phoenix had caught on, maybe if she'd read her mind, but then shook it off. Jean would go to the Professor first, like a good girl.  
  
Rogue watched them walk away, listening to the clicks of their heels until she was sure they were gone. She rolled her eyes, then checked her watch. Twelve o'clock. It was time for lunch, and already she felt famished. She looked around first, then her of clicking heels made their way to the cafeteria.  
  
Typical, she thought. Just as the normal people did, the young mutants had formed groups. Bobby and his friend, John Allerdyce, and her own, Kitty Pryde and Jubilee, all sat together. Only she was missing. She grabbed a tray without looking at the menu, then suddenly found herself seated next to the Iceman himself.  
  
"Where were you?" Kitty and Jubilee said at once, in unison.   
  
"Taking a break," said Rogue simply, in a manner of dismissal.   
  
"From what?" asked Bobby, touching her gloved hand. Normally, she would've wished it was skin and not leather he could touch, but today she didn't even want him touching her. Her pulse beat against Logan's dog tags, reminding her to pretend, and so she let his hand remain.  
  
"Everything. I… I needed to see things from the outside. To kind of see how Logan lives."  
  
"I see." Bobby liked to avoid the subject of Logan at all costs. He knew the man was just like a brother to Rogue, but still, the thought of her around him drove him insane. Rogue was his; he loved her. He just hadn't told her yet.   
  
Silence followed his words. His friends knew how he felt about Logan, but again, Rogue didn't. Bobby picked up his fork and picked at his food. He'd learned the habit from Rogue, he suddenly realized.  
  
"God, these seats are so damn hard! Don't they have any with cushions around here?" Rogue suddenly exclaimed. Jubilee looked up, gaping. It was unlike for Rogue to cuss, especially in a large group. Several other people at surrounding tables looked over at her, then went back to eating. Rogue shoved her plate forward, folded her arms, then leaned back with a scowl.  
  
"What's gotten into you?" asked Kitty. She shook her head. Rogue wasn't herself.  
  
"Nothing, okay?"  
  
"Rogue, if you're that uncomfortable, you can sit on my jacket," Bobby said, and pulled it off his arms. She took the jacket from him, then hung it on the back of her chair.  
  
"I've got a better idea," she murmured and she stood up. She shoved Bobby back away from the table, then swung one leg over his lap and straddled him. She placed her hands on his cheeks, looking down into his ice blue eyes. He looked back up at her with confusion, and she just smiled.   
  
Rogue brought her lips down onto his, crushing them with a force she's drawn from nowhere. She hadn't had a good kiss in awhile, and passion rippled through her. She pictured Logan's face underneath her, instead of the pair of ice cold lips that responded to her. She felt a felt a chill creep into her lips, and, fearing for her tongue, she withdrew, grinning coyly.  
  
"What was that about? Why… How… When… What happened?" Bobby stuttered, failing to compose herself. She smiled, smugly. She knew she was good.  
  
"Jean fixed me. I can touch you all I want." She smiled inside too. She lied quite easily. She ran her fingers through his hair, then planted a small kiss on his forehead.  
  
"How?"  
  
"Some sort of a miracle breakthrough. It's science. I don't understand it. But don't say anything, 'kay? No one's supposed to know yet, until we know it really does work."   
  
Behind and beside her, four face gaped, then nodded. Rogue had definitely changed overnight.   
  
"I'll see you tonight, Bobby," she purred. She stood up, and with the swing of her curved hips, she walked off again.  
  
Author's Note: I LOVE SUMMER! I can finally write whenever, wherever… Well, not when I'm working. I don't like my job, so I'm going to quit and waitress soon.   
  
I've got everyone pair off but Ororo and Logan. I'm contemplating it, since Kurt's nowhere to be seen yet (Nightcrawler. where art thou, Nightcrawler?). Or I might create a new character. (I'm kinda against that one, but you decide!) What do you think?? I'll take a semi-poll kinda thing and see what you think. Oh, and for those of you who've read it, should I put an epilogue on Crimson Regrets?? (And for those of you who haven't, why not?) You can tell me both in a review.  
  
Anywhoo, how did you like? Expect another chapter sometime soon, I promise. Thanks for all the previous reviews, and I hope for more!! 


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